On August 1, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy gave his account to the Spanish parliament of his involvement in the Bárcenas affair, where he stands suspected of receiving irregular bonus payments over a period of several years.

Rajoy declared that putting his trust in former People’s Party (PP) treasurer, Luis Bárcenas, had been a mistake, but rejected opposition calls for his resignation and early general elections. He further acknowledged that bonuses had been distributed within his party, but denied the existence of a parallel set of accounts, and insisted that the bonuses had been declared.

For La Vanguardia, even if —

… the debate failed to shed more light on the financing of the PP [...] yesterday’s main objective for Rajoy, which was to safeguard political stability with regard to the markets, was maintained. At least for the moment.